Papyrus 46

Papyrus 46 is a codex, a book of folded sheets, and what survives of it holds the letters listed below and nothing else. It was bought in pieces from dealers in Egypt in the 1930s, which is why it is divided: Chester Beatty acquired ten leaves and later forty-six more, and the University of Michigan bought thirty in 1931 and 1933. The two libraries agree that 86 leaves survive, 56 in Dublin and 30 in Ann Arbor, and differ on the original size: Michigan reckons that the book had 104 leaves, while the Chester Beatty’s catalogue record, as archived in December 2019, says 112. Because it was not found in an excavation, its date rests on the style of the handwriting. The University of Michigan gives “about A.D. 200” on one page and the third century on another. The Chester Beatty labels its leaf third century in its online exhibition. Its catalogue record gave “c. 200 AD” as archived in 2019 and gives the third century now (opened on 3 October 2026).

By Michigan’s account the letters stand in this order: Romans, Hebrews, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians. The first pages of Romans and the end of the book are lost. Michigan’s description judges that 2 Thessalonians probably followed, and that the pages then remaining were too few for 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Each letter has its title written above it. Hebrews, which names no author, is placed directly after Romans.

The codex was copied, as Michigan puts it, more than a century after Paul wrote. It is evidence for the wording of the letters at that date and for the fact that they were then circulating as one collection. See the Letters of Paul.